


Storyteller

by akire_yta



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-24
Updated: 2013-08-24
Packaged: 2017-12-24 13:31:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/940550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akire_yta/pseuds/akire_yta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Many years after, they remember (Xander & Andrew)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Storyteller

**Author's Note:**

> A little practice snippet from a long time ago

Familiar voices preceded the flickering lights up the darkened passage. He walked cautiously, a lifetime spent in peril having made habits not easily broken. He paused, one hand on the half-opened door, taking in the long-forgotten yet still familiar scenes that flickered light and shadow onto the face.

It's the face that grabs his attention, as it always has. Time, and a lifetime spent fighting, worrying, crying and laughing, has combined to carve deep lines and furrows along the brow and around the mouth. But rather than detracting, they add an air of gravitas and authority to the face. He watched as the shadows slip and move into a faint smile of acknowledgement.

He smiled in reply and moves further into the room, sliding down to sit on the couch beside his lover, twining his arms around the warm torso. He tilted his body and laid his head down on his shoulder. "Xander, where did you find this?"

He waved the remote vaguely. "It was in the back of a drawer. I didn't realize what it was until I played it."

Andrew hugged his lover closer and watched the screen and a younger painfully younger version of Xander spoke of love, loss and longing to another.

As close as they were sitting, Andrew still had to strain to hear Xander's whisper. "I still miss her."

Andrew bit his lip, feeling the burn of unshed tears. "So do I, love. So do I." Tightening his grip, he tried to convey through touch the wealth of feeling he had never, in all their years together, learnt how to express in words.

"Do you..do you think she's watching us, wherever she might be?"

Andrew smiled and pressed a kiss to the junction of neck and shoulder, taking comfort in the feel of his warm body in his arms. "I'm sure she's looking down on us now and - okay, she's probably making snarky comments. Halo and all."

He felt Xander's answering laugh under his arms, felt as it segued into a silent, choked, sobbing. "Do ex-demons get into heaven?"

A single burning tear traced down Andrew's cheek. "If ex-evil  
overlord's can get their reward, then I'm sure ex-demon's get into heaven." He pulled Xander's head over and pressed a desperate, trembling kiss into his cheek. "I think it's the ex- bit they care about."

Xander's arms wrapped around Andrew's torso. "Ex- evil overlord?"

Andrew laughed quietly. "I retired young."

Xander's mouth sought his out, a long, lingering kiss tinged with sadness. "And what was your reward?"

Andrew pulled back and stroked a hand through Xander's salt and pepper hair, brushing it back from his temple. "I got to love you, and be loved in return."

A long moment passed before, without speaking, they settled back into each other's arms, eyes on the screen.

"Andrew?"

"Hmm?"

"Thankyou."

"What for?"

"Everything. Being here. Staying with me." He waved at the screen. "Making the tape even after being threatened with grievous bodily harm."

Andrew laughed. "Admit it, you enjoyed tying me up."

"Never!"

They paused as a too-young blonde appeared on the screen. "Andrew?"

"Yes, love?"

"What time is it in England?"

Andrew doesn't even look at the clock. "I'm sure Will would love to hear from you." He sits back and lets Xander climb to his feet. Taking the remote, he keeps his eyes firmly on the screen as he hears Xander dial the number on the phone in the hall.

He frowns, and presses pause. Her face freezes on screen, twenty-two until the end of time.

Andrew pushes himself upright and walks across to the screen. Slowly, reverently, he strokes a finger along the curve of her cheek. "Thankyou, Buffy. For everything."

His hand drops to the base of monitor and hits a switch, plunging the room back into darkness.


End file.
